Do You Have a Database of Contacts to Refer, if Asked?

I have been talking to a few people since I wrote a post about referrals, and I have discovered that many people do not have a database of people to refer when asked. If you do a lot of networking like I do, or if you are part of a networking group, do you have a list of people that you have met? I did, but it wasn’t comprehensive, nor did it do what I wanted. I have LinkedIn contacts, emails in a specific folder, and business cards all over the place, but this was not conducive to finding a name quickly and easily, if I was asked to refer someone. Are you in the same boat?

I decided that what I needed was a contact database, where I could assign each contact to two categories (e.g. Software Developer & Spreadsheet Design). I wanted to state where I met each person, and also assign VIP status to certain people, in order to refer them first. I wanted to be able to select a category, and see a list of available contacts. I thought that it would be a good idea to be able to generate a PDF document, showing the details of the person that I was referring, so that I could send a PDF to the person requiring the referral. Lastly, being an Excel nerd, I wanted some statistics to show me the breakdown of my list of contacts.

Seeing my requirements, I decided to make this product myself. This is exactly what I have done, and I am now using it with great ease. Take a look at the video at the end to see how it works.

If you are also struggling to keep on top of your contacts when trying to refer someone, I have decided to give this tool away, free of charge, All you need to do is click on the link below, to visit the download page, and get it! [I have even pre-loaded it with some contact names (mine and the people at my networking group)] – EDITED I did have it pre-loaded with contacts, but now with GDPR I have decided to remove the contacts, for you to add your own. If you will use this tool, please download it and use it with my compliments.